Y is for...

You Only Live Once

Cliche I know, but true nonetheless.  In recent years, I have slowly but surely come to the point where I will attempt almost anything at least once.  I say almost because I'm not stupid and I'm not going to try drugs and death-defying stunts and what not.  I mean, trying new foods and stepping out of my comfort zone.  You only live once, so why not try everything?  The main thing that I get out of this is to live your life with no regrets.  I don't want to be 80 years old and look back at my life and say, why didn't I do that while I had the chance?  Or, why did it take me so long to try this food or go to that city?

This is very close to the post I did for N- New Experiences.  But the differentiating factor between YOLO and New Experiences it that living life with no regrets doesn't necessarily have to be trying new things.  It can simply be living everything that you are doing to the fullest extent possible.  Make the best out of every occasion.  Work at the job you love, or at least can tolerate until you find another one.  Don't worry yourself to death!  Sometimes you just have to accept the fact that everything happens for a reason and if something didn't happen, then maybe it just wasn't the right time.  Things like that.

N is for...

New Experiences.

N was originally going to be for New Zealand, and I mean seriously, what else could N possibly be for?  Except that I don't really have much to post about New Zealand that I haven't already.  Basically it would just be a reminiscing blog and I don't want to do that.  So I will, instead, focus on new experiences and anyone interest in reading about my time in NZ can check out this post or this one. 

New Experiences!  I love doing new things.  Even if they turn out to be pretty suck-y, new things just give a little kick to life.  I've had a lot of new experiences in the past year, going to NZ, traveling around NZ, traveling around cities, abseiling, almost skydiving, etc.  All of those experiences are great memories to have.  Even little things like going to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair last fall or the 2012 Northeast Conclave of The Wildlife Society this past weekend (the reason I posted three blogs at once) are great to mix up the daily grind.

Yes, days off are always important.  Give yourself some time to relax, sure, but make sure you get out, too.   There is so must to do, so much to see, and so much fun to be had!  Why would you ever pass it up to sit on your couch and watch reruns on TV?  There are plenty of activities out there, both that require money and ones that don't.  There are plenty of parks around, even stopping by a playground while school is in session and spending some time reliving your childhood is a great way to step out of the ordinary.  Teach yourself to knit or go to a photography workshop.  Like the picture says, try something new! 

A reoccurring theme in one of the books I'm currently reading is the John Lennon quote, "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."  Don't let life go on without you because believe me, it's entirely too short to begin with.

Abseil Me Down

As I mentioned in a previous post, the Maori Tour was only part one of our Auckland experience that TEAN put on for us.  Part two was a Canyoning Trip.  What’s Canyoning, you ask?  Canyoning is “traveling in canyons using a variety of techniques that may include other outdoor activities such as walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling, and/or swimming.”  Apparently it’s known as Canyoneering in the U.S.   Either way, Microsoft Word doesn’t recognize the word. 

Our canyoning trip included abseiling (rappelling) down waterfalls, both the sides and the middle.  It also included the hike up to the waterfalls, and the descent down the river afterwards.  The descent included such things as jumping, crawling, sliding, walking, and swimming.

So we began the day (Feb. 11) by jumping in two vans and riding out to literally a shed in a parking lot.  There we changed into wetsuits (top and bottom), old shoes, and helmets.  we then got in the vans again and travelled out to the trail.  There we put on a harnessy thing and practiced both the abseiling and the waiting with the rope for a fellow abseiler.  with that out of the way we began our trek up the mountain.  Now normally the trail we hiked would not have been a problem, but we were all in ill-fitting wetsuits and had an interesting time breathing.  Finally we reached the start of our real journey.  The top of a waterfall.  We were properly fitted into our gear and proceeded to jump into a freezing cold pool to swim out to the edge of the fall.  For the first descent we went down the side of the waterfall.  If you don't already know, I am quite afraid of heights.  As such, I let the big kids go first and hung near the back of the group, plucking up the courage to lower myself over the edge of a waterfall.  That done, I hooked up to one of two lines and slowly, ever so slowly, began my own descent. 

This doesn't look that imposing to be sure, but right where that rope disappears is a 90 degree angle.  So anyways, I took my sweet time to get down to the bottom.  Once there, I was extremely proud of myself.  However, that was only the first of four.  The third and fourth ones being the hardest, apparently.  So I swam through the pool at the bottom of the first falls and set myself up to go down the next.  The next one didn't even have water, though.  It was more of a connection between Point A (small waterfall) and Point B (big waterfall).  From the top of the second waterfall, it doesn't look that big.  even after you go over the edge.  Because guess what?  There's a second edge!

That's it.  I'm not sure if that's both waterfalls, but I would say at least the bottom 3/4 of it is the second waterfall.  I was shaking by the time I reached the bottom of that one.  Once there, I rejoined the rest of the group and we moved on, leaving a few people to finish up and join us.  We were guided to our next starting point where we all sat down and ate some tasty sandwiches for lunch.  While we ate, our guides prepped the fourth and final abseil.  The one in the waterfall.